Underground water district receives $600K grant for meters

High Plains Underground Water district 1 of 5 to recieve state grant.

Well users are going to be required to monitor their water use. Now the High Plains Underground Water District has some grant money to help pay for meters.

The Texas Water Development Board, or TWDB, awarded $617,500 to High Plains this week to help pay for meters to monitor their water use.

The district is considering changes to its Rule 5, the controversial measure that has led to the board’s turnover in the past two years. A moratorium was placed on the rule requiring meters, which will be lifted later this year.

The proposed change calls for producers to report their usage beginning next year, but does not require a costly meter. Instead, producers can use alternative methods of calculating their use, such as extrapolating it based on energy consumption.

With monitoring in place, producers will be required to limit water user to 18 inches per acre annually.

The TWDB grant is another tool to achieve the district’s desired future condition for the Ogallala Aquifer, which is to be at 50 percent in 50 years, officials said.

“It’s a great option for the people that are interested in the equipment,” General Manager Jason Coleman said.

The grant will be used to pay for up to half the cost of metering equipment.

In 2013, roughly $3 million was appropriated to the Texas Water Development Board for agriculture conservation and specifically for monitoring, said Kody Bessent, legislative affairs director for High Plains.

The state water development board awarded $1.5 million in grants to five groundwater conservation districts, including High Plains.

“Agriculture is a vital sector of Texas’ economy, and TWDB is committed to doing all that we can to enhance water conservation,” TWDB board member Kathleen Jackson said in a statement.

It’s unclear how many groundwater districts require water-use reporting, but the Senate Research Center’s analysis last year found most do not.

Created by the state legislature in 1951, the water district is charged with preserving and protecting the groundwater in 16 counties including Lubbock.